Wheel Cover Unit for Front Wheels of Trucks or Buses

ABSTRACT

A wheel cover unit for front wheels of trucks or buses comprises: a wheel cover, two bearing members and a cover. The wheel cover is provided with an outer convex platform having a central hole, and the periphery of the central hole is annularly provided with a plurality of nut convex covers and a plurality of through holes. The inner edge of the central hole is vertically and backwardly provided with a hole ring having corresponding two pairs of slots, each slot extends to the central hole with a lock sheet. Each bearing member is provided with a connecting portion and two connecting pieces. The connecting portion is locked with the bolt of the wheel rim, the connecting piece is locked with the lock sheet via a screwed element, so as to assemble the wheel cover to the front wheel of the truck or bus.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as itappears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files orrecords, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a wheel cover unit, and moreparticularly to a wheel cover unit for front wheels of trucks or buses.

Description of Related Arts

Both sides of a wheel rim of a truck or bus are an inner concave surfaceand an outer convex surface, while front wheels of the truck or bus haveonly one front wheel on each side, so the outer convex surface of thefront wheel rim will be located on the outer side of the front wheel forsmooth driving. However, two rear wheels are generally installed on eachside to increase the stability of the bearing capacity, so the wheelrims of the rear wheels must be two, and the wheel rims of the two rearwheels on the same side must be convex face to face in order to belocked together, so, this is the reason why the inner concave surface ofthe outer wheel rim is located on the outer side.

In addition to increase beauty, the wheel cover can also reduce windresistance and achieve the efficiency of oil saving.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate theafore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide aneffective technical solution to solve the defect that the wheel rim ofthe existing truck or bus's front wheel has failed to install the wheelcover.

To achieve the above objective, a wheel cover unit for front wheels oftrucks or buses in accordance with the present invention comprises: awheel cover, two bearing members and a cover. The wheel cover isprovided with an outer convex platform having a central hole in thecenter thereof, and the periphery of the central hole is annularlyprovided with a plurality of nut convex covers. The inner edge of thecentral hole is vertically and backwardly provided with a hole ringhaving corresponding two pairs of slots, and each slot extends to thecentral hole with a lock sheet. Each bearing member is provided with aconnecting portion and two connecting pieces. The connecting portion islocked with the bolt of the wheel rim, the connecting piece is lockedwith the lock sheet via a screwed element, so as to assemble the wheelcover to the front wheel of the truck or bus.

The connecting piece is lower than the connecting portion and is engagedin the slot of the hole ring. When the connecting piece is locked withthe lock sheet via the screwed element, there is a distance between theconnecting piece and the lock sheet, so that the locking tightness canbe increased when the screwed element is used.

On the inner side of the outer convex platform is protruded with aplurality of ribs that can increase the structural strength of the wheelcover and reduce the thickness of the wheel cover, saving the materialcost.

In addition, in a periphery of the outer convex platform is defined aplurality of through holes, each through hole is backwardly providedwith a protruding seat at the inner edge thereof, such that when thewheel cover is assembled to the wheel rim, the protruding seats can beassembled into the perforating holes of the wheel rim.

Moreover, a cover ring is backwardly extended from the cover and isdefined with a slot corresponding to the lock sheet, so that the covercan be engaged in the central hole of the wheel cover. Also, the coverring of the hole cover is provided with an engaging portion on thebottom side thereof. When the cover is engaged in the central hole, theengaging portion is engaged in the hole ring. The cover ring of thecover also has a plurality of grooves.

To summarize, the lock sheets are added at the central holes of thewheel cover, and by the connection of the bearing member, the wheelcover can be locked to the wheel rim of the front wheel, and the largerring cover can also be applied to the front wheel of a large truck orbus, which can ensure the locking stability.

The present invention will become more obvious from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodimentsin accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheel cover unit for front wheels oftrucks or buses in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the wheel cover unit for front wheels oftrucks or buses in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective and partial enlarged view of a wheel cover ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the wheel cover in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an assembly cross sectional view of the wheel cover unit forfront wheels of trucks or buses in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view of the main structure of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a wheel cover unit A in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention can be assembled to a wheel rim C ofa front wheel B of a truck or bus as shown in FIG. 2, the wheel rim Chas an inner concave surface C1 (as shown in FIG. 5) and an outer convexsurface C2 located on an outer side of the wheel rim C. The wheel rim Cis defined with an intermediate hole C3 and a plurality of perforatingholes C4 on the outer convex surface C2, and between the intermediatehole C3 and the perforating holes C4 is annularly assembled a pluralityof bolts C5. The wheel cover unit A includes a wheel cover 1, twobearing members 2 and a cover 3.

The wheel cover 1 is provided with an outer convex platform 11 having acentral hole 12 in the center thereof, and the periphery of the centralhole 12 is annularly provided with a plurality of nut convex covers 13.In a periphery of the outer convex platform 11 is defined a plurality ofthrough holes 14, each through hole 14 is backwardly provided with aprotruding seat 141 at the inner edge thereof (as shown in FIGS. 3-4),such that when the wheel cover 1 is assembled to the wheel rim C, theprotruding seats 141 can be assembled into the perforating holes C4 ofthe wheel rim C (as shown in FIG. 5). In addition, the inner edge of thecentral hole 12 is vertically and backwardly provided with a hole ring15 having corresponding two pairs of slots 151 (as shown in FIG. 3), andeach slot 151 extends to the central hole 12 with a lock sheet 16.Viewed from the external side, the lock sheet 16 is lower than the edgeof the central hole 12 (as shown in FIGS. 5-6) and is vertical to thehole ring 15. Moreover, on the inner side of the outer convex platform11 is protruded with a plurality of ribs 17 that are located between thenut convex covers 13 (as shown in FIG. 3), the ribs 17 also can increasethe structural strength of the wheel cover 1 and reduce the thickness ofthe wheel cover 1, saving the material cost.

Referring to FIG. 2, each bearing member 2 is provided with a connectingportion 21 and two connecting pieces 22. The connecting portion 21 isdefined with a penetrating hole 211 for passing through the bolt C5 ofthe wheel rim C, the connecting piece 22 is locked with the lock sheet16 via a screwed element 23, so as to assemble the wheel cover 1 to thewheel rim C. The connecting piece 22 is lower than the connectingportion 21 and is engaged in the slot 151 of the hole ring 15. When theconnecting piece 22 is locked with the lock sheet 16 via the screwedelement 23, there is a distance G between the connecting piece 22 andthe lock sheet 16 (as shown in FIG. 6), so that the locking tightnesscan be increased when the screwed element 23 is used.

Referring to FIGS. 2-3, a cover ring 31 is backwardly extended from thecover 3 and is defined with a slot 311 corresponding to the lock sheet16 of the wheel cover 1, so that the cover 3 can be engaged in thecentral hole 12 of the wheel cover 1. Also, the cover ring 31 of thehole cover 3 is provided with an engaging portion 32 on the bottom sidethereof. When the cover 3 is engaged in the central hole 12, theengaging portion 32 is engaged in the hole ring 15 (as shown in FIG. 6).The cover ring 31 of the cover 3 also has a plurality of grooves 312,which makes the cover ring 31 have an appropriate elastic margin forengaging in the central hole 12.

In operation, the wheel cover unit A is firstly locked with the C5 ofthe wheel rim C of the front wheel B by the connecting portion 21 of thebearing member 2 (as shown in FIGS. 5-6), and then the central hole 12of the wheel cover 1 is aligned to the intermediate hole C3 of the wheelrim C and the lock sheet 16 is aligned to the connecting piece 22. Atthat time, since the connecting piece 22 is engaged in the slot 151 ofthe hole ring 15, and the protruding seat 141 of the wheel cover 1 isfitted in the perforating hole C4 of the wheel rim C, the lock sheet 16can be locked with the connecting piece 22 via the screwed element 23.In addition, due to the distance G between the connecting piece 22 andthe lock sheet 16, the locking tightness can be increased when thescrewed element 23 is used, which can avoid the movement and theshedding of the wheel cover 1 when driving or the brake stops. Finally,the cover 3 is engaged in the central hole 12, and the engaging portion32 is engaged in the hole ring 15.

It can be seen from the above structure that main idea of the inventionlies in: the lock sheets 16 are added at the central holes 12 of thewheel cover 1, and by the connection of the bearing member 2, the wheelcover 1 can be locked to the wheel rim C of the front wheel B, and thelarger ring cover 1 can also be applied to the front wheel B of a largetruck or bus, so that the practicability of the invention is higher.Moreover, the wheel cover 1 and the cover 3 are plastic injectionmolding, which is light and strong, and more three-dimensional.

While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance withthe present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the artthat further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wheel cover unit for front wheels of trucks orbuses, comprising: a wheel cover, two bearing members and a cover, thewheel cover being provided with an outer convex platform having acentral hole, a periphery of the central hole being annularly providedwith a plurality of nut convex covers, an inner edge of the central holebeing vertically and backwardly provided with a hole ring havingcorresponding two pairs of slots, each slot extending to the centralhole with a lock sheet, each bearing member being provided with aconnecting portion and two connecting pieces, the connecting portionbeing locked with the bolt of the wheel rim, and the connecting piecebeing locked with the lock sheet via a screwed element.
 2. The wheelcover unit for front wheels of trucks or buses as claimed in claim 1,wherein the connecting piece is lower than the connecting portion and isengaged in the slot of the hole ring, when the connecting piece islocked with the lock sheet via the screwed element, there is a distancebetween the connecting piece and the lock sheet.
 3. The wheel cover unitfor front wheels of trucks or buses as claimed in claim 2, wherein on aninner side of the outer convex platform is protruded with a plurality ofribs.
 4. The wheel cover unit for front wheels of trucks or buses asclaimed in claim 2, wherein in a periphery of the outer convex platformis defined a plurality of through holes, each through hole is backwardlyprovided with a protruding seat at an inner edge thereof.
 5. The wheelcover unit for front wheels of trucks or buses as claimed in claim 4,wherein a cover ring is backwardly extended from the cover and isdefined with a slot corresponding to the lock sheet, so that the coveris engaged in the central hole of the wheel cover.
 6. The wheel coverunit for front wheels of trucks or buses as claimed in claim 5, whereinthe cover ring of the hole cover is provided with an engaging portion onthe bottom side thereof, when the cover is engaged in the central hole,the engaging portion is engaged in the hole ring.
 7. The wheel coverunit for front wheels of trucks or buses as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe cover ring of the cover also has a plurality of grooves.